Access wired home network via wireless router.

[Lu Powell]

I have a laptop running Vista Home Premium 64 bit, and a desktop running Vista Home Premium 32 bit. Both connect very nicely and share rthe broadband internet connection okay.

I have installed a Netgear WPN824v3 wireless router, and connected both computers via the Ethernet ports. So far, no problem.

When I remove the laptop Ethernet connection and connect via the wireless system, I still have access to the internet connection, thgough not the home network. After a Google search of a boat load of info, visiting the manufacturer's web site, scanning user forums till I'm bleary-eyed, I come to you experts with a request.

Use of an access point, or configuring the new router along with the old wired router seems a bit much. Ad hoc connections seem pretty much a temporary thing.

Am I expecting too much to hope for a simple "tweak" that lets me access my home network via the wireless route?

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
If you have an access through your own wireless (make sure that you are not
riding by mistake on some one else's connection) it should be a problem.
Set the metrics according to your preference,
http://www.ezlan.net/metrics.html
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

I have a laptop running Vista Home Premium 64 bit, and a desktop running
Vista Home Premium 32 bit. Both connect very nicely and share rthe broadband
internet connection okay.

I have installed a Netgear WPN824v3 wireless router, and connected both
computers via the Ethernet ports. So far, no problem.

When I remove the laptop Ethernet connection and connect via the wireless
system, I still have access to the internet connection, thgough not the home
network. After a Google search of a boat load of info, visiting the
manufacturer's web site, scanning user forums till I'm bleary-eyed, I come
to you experts with a request.

Use of an access point, or configuring the new router along with the old
wired router seems a bit much. Ad hoc connections seem pretty much a
temporary thing.

Am I expecting too much to hope for a simple "tweak" that lets me access my
home network via the wireless route?

 

[Lu Powell]

Thanks for the quick and informative reply. Maybe I should make myself
more clear. I want a way to use the laptop's wireless connection to access
the home network, which is Ethernet connected via the same wireless router
the laptop is using.

The info on metrics was helpful, though not for this issue. I set up
security on the wi-fi so I'm sure of being connected to my home router.

 

[Malke]

I have a laptop running Vista Home Premium 64 bit, and a desktop running
Vista Home Premium 32 bit. Both connect very nicely and share rthe
broadband internet connection okay.

I have installed a Netgear WPN824v3 wireless router, and connected both
computers via the Ethernet ports. So far, no problem.

When I remove the laptop Ethernet connection and connect via the wireless
system, I still have access to the internet connection, thgough not the
home network. After a Google search of a boat load of info, visiting the
manufacturer's web site, scanning user forums till I'm bleary-eyed, I come
to you experts with a request.

Use of an access point, or configuring the new router along with the old
wired router seems a bit much. Ad hoc connections seem pretty much a
temporary thing.

Am I expecting too much to hope for a simple "tweak" that lets me access
my home network via the wireless route?

Here is general information about setting up your wireless connection
securely. If you've already done this and still can't access the Internet,
probably you have third-party security software that isn't allowing the
connection. Examples are Norton and McAfee.

Have a computer connected to the router with an ethernet cable. Examples
given are for a Linksys router. Refer to your router manual or the router
mftr.'s website for default settings if you don't have a Linksys. Open a
browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox and in the addressbar type:

http://192.168.1.1 [enter] (this is the router's default IP address, which
varies from router to router so check your manual)

This will bring you to router's login screen. The default username is left
blank and the Linksys default password is "admin" without the quotes. Enter
that information. You are now in the router's configuration utility. Your
configuration utility may differ slightly from mine.

Click on the Administration link at the top of the page. Enter your new
password. WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT. Re-enter the
password to confirm it and click the Save Settings button at the bottom of
the page. The router will restart and present you with the login box again.
Leave the username blank and put in your new password to get back into the
configuration utility.

Now click on the Wireless link at the top of the page. Change the Wireless
Network Name (SSID) from the default to something you will recognize. I
suggest that my clients not use their family name as the SSID. For example,
you might wish to name your wireless network "CastleAnthrax" or the
like. ;-)

Click the Save Settings and when you get the prompt that your changes were
successful, click on the Wireless Security link which is right next to the
Basic Wireless Settings link (where you changed your SSID). If you have a
newish computer, you will be able to set the Security Mode to
WPA2-Personal. Do that and enter a passphrase. The passphrase is what you
will enter on any computers that are allowed to connect to the wireless
network. WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT.

At this point, your router is configured and if the computer you were using
to configure the router is normally going to connect wirelessly, disconnect
the ethernet cable and the computer's wireless feature should see your new
network. Enter the passphrase you created to join the network and start
surfing.

Malke

 

[Lu Powell]

Thanks. I guess I'm not making myself clear. I can connect to the internet
via the wireless router. I can connect to the router via an Ethernet port,
and then surf the internet, as well as access my other (desktop) computer
in my home network.

I want to be able to use my laptop's wireless connection to access the
home network and the internet at the same time - just like my wired LAN.

I have a laptop running Vista Home Premium 64 bit, and a desktop
running
Vista Home Premium 32 bit. Both connect very nicely and share rthe
broadband internet connection okay.

I have installed a Netgear WPN824v3 wireless router, and connected both
computers via the Ethernet ports. So far, no problem.

When I remove the laptop Ethernet connection and connect via the
wireless
system, I still have access to the internet connection, thgough not the
home network. After a Google search of a boat load of info, visiting
the
manufacturer's web site, scanning user forums till I'm bleary-eyed, I
come
to you experts with a request.

Use of an access point, or configuring the new router along with the
old
wired router seems a bit much. Ad hoc connections seem pretty much a
temporary thing.

Am I expecting too much to hope for a simple "tweak" that lets me
access
my home network via the wireless route?

Here is general information about setting up your wireless connection
securely. If you've already done this and still can't access the
Internet,
probably you have third-party security software that isn't allowing the
connection. Examples are Norton and McAfee.

Have a computer connected to the router with an ethernet cable. Examples
given are for a Linksys router. Refer to your router manual or the
router
mftr.'s website for default settings if you don't have a Linksys. Open a
browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox and in the addressbar type:

http://192.168.1.1 [enter] (this is the router's default IP address,
which
varies from router to router so check your manual)

This will bring you to router's login screen. The default username is
left
blank and the Linksys default password is "admin" without the quotes.
Enter
that information. You are now in the router's configuration utility.
Your
configuration utility may differ slightly from mine.

Click on the Administration link at the top of the page. Enter your new
password. WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT. Re-enter the
password to confirm it and click the Save Settings button at the bottom
of
the page. The router will restart and present you with the login box
again.
Leave the username blank and put in your new password to get back into
the
configuration utility.

Now click on the Wireless link at the top of the page. Change the
Wireless
Network Name (SSID) from the default to something you will recognize. I
suggest that my clients not use their family name as the SSID. For
example,
you might wish to name your wireless network "CastleAnthrax" or the
like. ;-)

Click the Save Settings and when you get the prompt that your changes
were
successful, click on the Wireless Security link which is right next to
the
Basic Wireless Settings link (where you changed your SSID). If you have
a
newish computer, you will be able to set the Security Mode to
WPA2-Personal. Do that and enter a passphrase. The passphrase is what
you
will enter on any computers that are allowed to connect to the wireless
network. WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT.

At this point, your router is configured and if the computer you were
using
to configure the router is normally going to connect wirelessly,
disconnect
the ethernet cable and the computer's wireless feature should see your
new
network. Enter the passphrase you created to join the network and start
surfing.

Malke

 

[Malke]

Thanks. I guess I'm not making myself clear. I can connect to the internet
via the wireless router. I can connect to the router via an Ethernet port,
and then surf the internet, as well as access my other (desktop) computer
in my home network.

I want to be able to use my laptop's wireless connection to access the
home network and the internet at the same time - just like my wired LAN.

This doesn't make sense. It makes no difference whether your machines are
connecting to the Local Area Network (LAN) wired or wirelessly. It's all
the same LAN (or certainly it should be). As long as all your machines are
on the same subnet (ex. 192.168.1.xxx where "xxx" = Some Numbers), they can
share files/printers.

*****
Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may look
daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions below
systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting up your
sharing.

Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as files
and folders:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx

For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused
by 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including a stateful
firewall in a VPN); or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls such as the
built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or 3) not having
identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup machines; 4) trying
to create shares where the operating system does not permit it.

A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN)
traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing File/Printer
Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network Setup Wizard on
XP will take care of this for those machines.The only "gotcha" is that this
will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a
third-party firewall or have an antivirus/security program with its own
firewall component, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I
usually configure the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be
192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
subnet. Refer to any third party security program's Help or user forums for
how to properly configure its firewall. Do not run more than one firewall.
DO NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS; CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.

B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE
PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you wish a machine to boot directly
to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for convenience, you
can do this. The instructions at this link work for both XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users' home
directories or Program Files, but you can share folders inside those
directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents folder.
See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.
*****
Malke

 

[Lu Powell]

Thanks. You have given me a lot of info to consider.

 

[Lu Powell]

I did it! I did it! Thanks to you and Jack (MVP Networking). The problem
came down to a short between my chair and the keyboard. Went back and
double-checked all the settings. Made sure the two computers set private
network with printer file and sharing available. (Some settings were
changed without my knowledge.)

 

[Malke]

I did it! I did it! Thanks to you and Jack (MVP Networking). The problem
came down to a short between my chair and the keyboard. Went back and
double-checked all the settings. Made sure the two computers set private
network with printer file and sharing available. (Some settings were
changed without my knowledge.)

Glad you got it sorted. Thanks for taking the time to let us know.

Malke